A Demonstration of Pride
by DMajorBoss
Summary: A demonstration between two warriors shows how much pride there is in ones own skill.


A Demonstration of Pride

Within the confines of a large city, a special event had taken place. The Intercity Martial Arts Demonstration, sponsored by Capsule Corp., encouraged many a fighter to come forth and show their fighting skills. It was an event in which many combatants could show their skills to other, both for a chance at moderate fame and even nice prizes. For such an event, there was even a special martial artist that attended these proceedings.

As the day started coming to an end, the event also followed suit, everything being over by early evening. It was then that Bulma Briefs, the one who specifically organized this event, headed over to the guest that she had invited, her young son Trunks accompanying her. The martial artist, wearing a red Gi, relaxed against a wall within a corridor as she spoke to him.

"I'd like to thank you for coming today," she started, "I was kind of curious as to who had won the U.S. Martial Arts tournament a while back, so I figured that you'd make for an interesting addition to this demonstration."

Trunks stood by his mother, looking somewhat indignant as to how this fighter had been brought here. He looked to him momentarily, his expression unchanging.

"So," Trunks began, "Who exactly are you anyway?"

The fighter lifted himself from the wall, standing straight as he introduced himself.

"My name is Ken Andrew Aska, though I'm most commonly known as Ken Masters."

"Hmm…" Trunks eyed Ken for a brief moment, then turned and started to walk away, "…humph, I'm going off to find Goten."

Both Ken and Bulma watched as the young one walked away, not seeming to care about the man that he just met.

"Oh, that boy, just like his father at times."

"Uh, did I do something wrong?" Ken asked.

"Oh, no, it's nothing really," Bulma responded, "He's like this because he didn't understand why I invited you here. He felt that someone of your fighting skills should have been treated as a regular contender in all of this. He just doesn't understand that not all fighters have to be as power heavy as he and his father."

"O…kay."

"But no need to worry about him, Mr. Masters…"

"Please, call me Ken."

"Alright, Ken. So, now that everything's over, what're you going to do now?"

"Well, I'll just hang around her a bit longer until my wife and son come to pick me up."

"Oh, well, okay. If there's anything you need, just let me know."

With that, she left him there, going off to attend to other matters for the moment.

Ken watched momentarily as she left, then turned and walked down the corridor, heading back into the arena.

"Man, some event this turned out to be. I heard that this city had some extraordinary fighters. I didn't see anything all that spectacular today, so maybe they were just rumors or something."

With all of this in mind, he entered the arena, gazing upon all that he'd already seen from earlier. A vast amount of low-level seats, now empty of patrons, surrounding the ring where everyone had participated. A few spots of light shined down from the ceiling as the evening rays of light came through the open ceiling. As he walked back to the ring, he noticed a figure standing there, seeming to gaze about the area. He jumped up into the ring, addressing the lone, black haired figure.

"Hey buddy, the demonstration ended already; maybe if you'd've gotten here earlier, you could have showed your stuff. I'm about the only person here now."

The figure remained silent, arms crossed as he kept his back to Ken. Stepping closer, Ken tried addressing him again.

"Hey, you hard of hearing? No one's left here but me, so unless you've got something to demonstrate to me, you should probably take your leave now."

"Anything that I'd have to demonstrate would surely cause the end of your life, so I suggest that you keep quiet and heed your own warnings."

"Oh really?" Ken returned, "And just who the Hell are you to make such a challenge?"

The figure turned, facing Ken as he uncrossed his arms. He wore a navy blue body suit with white gloves and boots. His build wasn't that great, but his muscular tone did show that he was experienced in combat.

"My name is Vegeta, as if it matters to you," he responded, looking over Ken as he did so, "So, you're the 'special' martial artist that Bulma was talking about…I don't see anything special about you at all."

"First off, my name is Ken. Second, I prefer to be known as a street fighter than just some martial artist. Third, if you don't think that I have any abilities, why don't you try me?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Vegeta responded, a slight grin on his face, "You wouldn't be able to survive 10 seconds against me."

Getting into his fighting stance, Ken gestured for Vegeta to come at him, taunting him into combat.

"Well then, let's see just how right you think you are."

Vegeta placed one hand on his hip, amused at the sight of this man actually trying to take him on.

"Fine, I'll humor you for a moment. It's your funeral, either way."

On that note, Ken rushed in, taking an early offensive. Jumping suddenly, he gave a quick spin as he extended his leg in preparation for a right cross kick. Vegeta simply dodged the attack, still standing there with his hand on his hip. As Ken landed, he raised his right leg again and spun in the opposite direction with a kick. Again, Vegeta dodged the attack by moving just out of its range. After standing firmly again, Ken came back at Vegeta, throwing a right cross, left jab, left knee, and right jab at his opponent. Amused by these fruitless attempts, Vegeta managed to dodge every one of the attacks yet again.

Ken then tried for a foot sweep, Vegeta simply jumping over his leg. Quickly, at this opportunity, Ken came back up with a right hook aimed for Vegeta's head. As if predicting the attack, Vegeta grabbed on to Ken's fist, holding him in place for a moment.

"Well, I see that you do have some capabilities…then again, I guess any man has the basic skills of survival embedded within their minds."

In one quick gesture, Vegeta threw Ken's fist downward, sending him closer as Vegeta threw a left backhand, followed by a right punch that send Ken backwards threw the air. Catching himself, Ken quickly rolled back over to Vegeta.

"Shoryuken!"

Ken came up with a regular dragon punch, one that did catch Vegeta off guard slightly; Vegeta still managed to dodge it, though, and started to regain his footing. As Ken landed, he jumped into the air and used Vegeta's slight stagger to begin one of his signature attacks. Not prepared for such a quick counter attack, Vegeta was hit by all of the kicks of Ken's Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku. Spinning from the attack, Vegeta used his hand to vault off of the ground, regaining his footing as he flipped back upwards.

"Shouryuu Reppa!"

Vegeta watched as Ken came at him with a small uppercut attack, managing to dodge the blows. Then, just as suddenly, Ken came back at him with another uppercut attack, this one quicker than the last one. After just dodging this series of punches, he saw Ken's arm glow with an infernic aura, the street fighter preparing a third series of uppercuts that had his fist on fire. It was then that Vegeta had enough of this little game.

Before Ken could come fully upwards to finish his attack, Vegeta grabbed his flaming fist, squelching the power that Ken was about to release. He squeezed his fist a bit, causing Ken remain knelt in pain.

"Alright, so I may have underestimated your power," Vegeta began, "It still doesn't mean that you could do a damn thing to hurt me."

He lifted Ken up a bit as he continued, still securing his fist.

"This little game has been fun, but it's time that it ends now. Be glad that I was kind enough to spare you, otherwise you'd be dead by now."

With that, Vegeta gave Ken a right knee to the gut. Then, after releasing his fist, he extended his leg so that Ken received a right kick to the face, sending the street fighter flying back again.

As Ken hit the ground, he popped back up again, strangely smiling at all of this.

"Nah, it's not over just yet. I still have one good trick left to show."

Running at Vegeta, he cradled his hand to the side, quickly building up a mass of energy.

"Hadoken!"

Vegeta just watched as the blast came at him, finally flicking it away when it got within his range.

"If that's your best trick, then…"

Vegeta didn't get to finish his sentence, for the Hadoken was merely a mask to cover up Ken's true intentions. By the time Vegeta flicked away the energy blast, Ken was already upon the Saiya-jin warrior, his right leg prepared for what was to follow.

"Shippuu Jinrai Kyaku!"

Ken hit Vegeta with a series of kicks, the strike of torso, head, head, and torso connecting before a fifth knee landed in Vegeta's midsection. Using his knee for propulsion, Ken turned and did a series of left kicks that sent both him and Vegeta into the air, the final kick sending Vegeta backwards. As Ken landed, Vegeta managed to recover, though stayed airborne, enraged at what had just happened.

"This is what I get for being nice," Vegeta exclaimed, extending his arms out to his side, "I can't believe I let myself get caught in such an attack; this WILL end now!"

"Fine by me," Ken said, cradling his hands again to his side, aiming upwards to Vegeta, "Let's see what my 'basic survival skills' can do against you now."

"You're still clueless," Vegeta said, now bringing his hands together as he aimed for Ken, "Your ignorance shall be the death of you."

"Shinku…"

"Final…"

"BOYS!"

They both turned to where they heard the call, stopping their attacks when they did so. Coming towards the ring were the families of the two combatants, Bulma and Trunks for Vegeta, and Eliza and Mel for Ken. Vegeta dropped from the air and landed in the ring as his family came up to him.

"What in the world do you think you were doing?" Bulma questioned, "Are you trying to destroy the arena I designed?"

"What?" Vegeta returned, "You act as if I'm the one who started trouble, woman; ever think that your 'special' entrant had anything to do with it?"

"Knowing you, Ken," Eliza said, "You probably did do something to cause all of this."

"Well," Ken responded, "it's not like I can take all of the blame on this one."

"I'm sorry about all of this," Bulma said, coming over to Ken, "I never meant for you to go through all of this."

"I was nothing," Ken said, "This extra work out was well worth it, though I could have ended things quicker if I had wanted to."

Eliza gave Ken a slight elbow to the ribs, causing Ken to wince a little from the early blows of battle.

"Hey, dad, are you alright?" his son asked.

"Yeah, Mel, I'll be fine."

"Only because I spared you numerous times." Vegeta added, his response returning a glare from Bulma.

"Well, anyway, I hope that you enjoyed today's festivities. I'll be sure to contact you again in case we do something similar."

"No problem," Ken responded, turning with his family to leave, "I guess I'll see you all around. And Vegeta, not bad; maybe next time we can finish our little sparring session."

"Just hope that I'm as generous then as I am now." Vegeta responded, him and Trunks turning to leave. Bulma just followed them, shaking her head at the events that she has briefly seen.

Within the confines of a large city, two families, each with a masterful warrior, left the proceedings that had been the Intercity Martial Arts Demonstration. Indeed, the day had been quite eventful, the pride of two combatants bringing out a demonstration of skill that neither fighter would cease to remember.


End file.
